Life-saving suit.



J. EMRK.

LIFE.' BfWING SUIT.

APPLICA'L'IUN zum) ma.

PatmlLC-,d Deo. 1 1913.

Lomme.,

J. P. PARK.

LIVE fmvINu slm'.

APPI'UAYXOT( VILEU AIIL ZC, 1911; l'i, Patented Doa 16. 191A` 2 SHEETS SHIIIT Z W/f/JELSWES INVENTO? ATTORNEYS 'LIFE-SAVING SUIT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 26, 1918.

fatentedlDee.1.6,MHS.

serial. No. 763,773.

To all whom t may concern:

le it known that l, Jona l). Para, a cittzen o'l the. Unitet'l Staten, and a resident ot Beloit, .in the eounty of Mitchell and State ot Kansas, have invented a new and lin proved Li'telaving Suit', o tf whieh the l'ollowing` is a l'ull,y clear, and exaet deeeription.

My invention relates to a. .stuit .more par-v tieularly designed to be worn by marine 'travelers .in ease ol shipwreek.,

The suit is made troni waterproof inaterial, and may be provided with a. li'le pre- Server, or be adapted to reeeive an ordinary lite preeerrer.

The invention will be particularly est" planted inv the epeoilie deaeriptittn following.

.ltelerenee is, to be had to th\ aeeonlpanying drawings terminer a part ot" this epeeilication, in whieh Similar eharaetera of rel@ ereuee indieate Correspondiug;` parte 'in all the, tiewa.

Figure l i5 a pernpeetive view showing iny improved ,Suit in poaition on a winner; Fig. i? is an enlarged erohs Sectional View ot` the body portion olf tl e enit; Fig. 3 1s an enlarged vertiral seetional view olf the hood; `Fig. l is a. developed view' ot the hood; Fig. 5 is a 'tringrg'lnentr ry itat-,e view ot the eloing strips 'tor the opening' ol' the body, the :fasteners ti'or the etriphl being omitted; Fig. t) i5 a cross seetional view ot the elements shown in Fig. 5; Fig. T is a fragmentary t'aee View showing the fastening; meant; tor tl e strip; Fig. 8 a ermee .seo tional view ot the elements Shown in Fig. 7; and Fig'. S) is a ltrannie-ntary perepeetive view ofa. slightly modified form o'tE fastener to be employed at the upper end ol the body.

ln 'toi-ming a suit in aeeordanee with my invention, :tbody 10 is 'termed o't suitable waterproof material, and is provided with legs and arms, the arms, if desired, having integral mitts lt). The body may have applied thereto a pneumatic lite preserve): 11, which may be iuliated through the medium o't' a tube l2 to be fitted with the usual valve (not shown).

The body ot the garment is 'Formed with an opening' at the front, applied to the edges `of whieh opening are atripeI l, secured at their lower ends to a bowed spring .tht by rivetA l-lfL or other :suitable means. 'lhe cip-- posed edges, ot' the strips 13 are given a tongue and groove formation` a5 indieated at lf3, and it. i5 to be uuderritood that'. in praetiee, the stripev may be Ytormed nl.' any suitable flexible material, preferably nl: rubber, havine aullieient. body and yetI possessing the desired rexilieney to permit' the Stripel to eonl'orm to "he eontour of the body ol the wearer and permit ot' moveunnt o1' the body. As Shown in Figs. [i and t1, a rubber paeli'ing strip .141" may be employed between spring ,lLt and the ends ot' the strips 125, and have. a tongue and jrtiove engagement with said strips as at tft.

ln order tio In'ovide etlieient: t'atztenilie nians for the .stripn` .l2-l lo etl'ert a tight closure ot the trout openiue, matingl tar-5- tener elementlt), l't', are aeeured tespee tively to the strips, the one element l? having a T head beneath wheh 'forwardly projeeting;` l'orlied members [El on` lheele* ment lt may engage, there beiner a llange or stop Q() on the. element lti at the base of the tol-lied memberfI t.) to come to a bearing against the Thad ttt when the fasteners are brought together in engagement.. lhere 'is earried also by one. etrip, as l?, a hasp linlc :2l hinged as at 212, :uid adapted to be passed over a bent lurking lever .23 pivoted at'l one end as at 2l, to the oppoaite :drip lil. the lever having between lits l'ree end and vt'ulerum` au inturned hook 23 to engagjfe the cross bur 2l at the 'tree end oiE the hasp link,

the arrangement being' sueli that the level" may be swungr inward aerof's its Venter ot movement to hold the liuleiu fastened 1m- Asillon, the movement ol' the lever serving; to tightly preA the oppo ed edges olf the strips .13 with their tongue and groove eonneetion together, to exclude water. '.l`he fastener rilements lo and their mating, ineniberbl 13 are arranged in pairs, the pairs being` preterably integral, and between the elements of eaeh pair the described linksI E20 and levers 23 are ar anged. A

'lherti may be further employed in eonneetion with the link and lever and the las# teuing elements ttl, 17, thumb screws 25 adapted to pass through both strips and both fastening elements, so that upon the tightening of the thumb screws a leverage will be exerted to further tightly clamp the strips since the screws engage the fastening elements between the said strips and the point ofv engagement between the said elements. F or the major portion ,of the length of the strips 13,*the fastener elements 1G, 17, arch toward each other, but those fastening elements 16a, 17, at the upperA ends of the strips, and therefore d'irectly'beneath the chin, have less projection to prevent possible discomfort, said elements extending over the facesof the strips in substaiitially flat form, as best seen in Fig. 9. The modified fasteners are however, provided with elements 18a, 19a, 20, corresponding with simi lar elements in Figs. 7 and 8.

rlhe body is provided with a hood 26, and in order that the edge portions of the hood may be closed against the head of the wearer sufficiently tight to exclude water without affording discomfort, the hood at the opening at the front is faced with strips 27 preferably of sheepskin having fleece thereon, said strips extending in opposite directions from the throat upwardly around the hood, and having opposed diagonal edges as at 27. The fastening strips pass loosely through guide loops on the hood, and the connection between the hood and the smaller end of each strip is by means of an elastic connecting strip 29, so that tension in opposite directions will be exerted on the strips to hold them snugly against the head of the wearer. In practice, the fleece may have applied thereto a heavy oil, vaseline, or the like, to assist in excluding the water. The

hood at the top may have elastic gore mem-I bers 30, 3l, as indicated in Fig. 4, to assist' in giving the hood a close fit.

The hood may be'provided with a mask 32, to guard against spray, the guard being sustained by arms 33 pivoted as at 34, to the hood and having a window 35 ofcelluloid, mica or. the like.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. A life saving suit having an opening in the body thereof, provided with flexible strips at the edges of the opening, fastening means comprising mating fastener elements carried respectively by the strips, one ele ment having avT-head andthe other element having forked members adapted to engage beneath the said head, and lclamps to draw the Vstrips and fasteners toward each other.

2. A life saving suit having an opening in the body thereof, provided with strips ranging along the edges of the opening, mating fastener elements carried respectively by the Loeneee strips, and a clamp arranged in connection with saidpfastener elements to draw the same and the strips toward each other'.

3. The herein-described garment having an opening in the body thereof, provided with strips at the edges of said opening, fastening means consisting of pairs of mating elements spaced apart, and clamps car ried by the respective strips and disposed between the fastening members of a pair.

4l. The herein-described garment having an opening, and flexible strips along the edges of the opening, said strips having respectively a tongue and groove at'the opposed edges and mounted to move toward and from eachv other, and fastening means for holding the strips in closed position.

5. The herein-described garment having an opening therein, strips formed of resilient material and -mounted to open and close, av

link on one strip, and a lever on' the other strip adapted by engagement with said link to press the resilient strips into close engagement. i

6. The herein-described garment having an opening therein, strips ranging along'said opening and mounted to open and close, fastoning members carried respectively by said strlps, and clamp screws engaging said fastening members to draw the same, and with themthe strips, into close engagement.

7. A life saving suit, having a waterproof body, and a waterproof hood open at the front, the hood having around the front thereof facing strips adapted to move relatively to each other to contract or enlarge the opening. l

8. A hood having an open front, and facing strips at said front movable relatively to each other around /the opening, for the .contraction and enlargement of the hood.

9. The herein-described hood having an open front, guide loops at the front,and facing strips extending around the opening v through said loops, the facing strips being movable in the loops in opposite directions.

10. A hood having an open front, and facing' strips extending around the hood at the front, said strips having opposed diagonal edges. l

11.111 a life saving suit, a hood open at the front, and having facing strips extending around the hood at the opening, the said strips being movable relatively to each other in opposite directions to contractor enlarge the. opening, and each having an elastic connection at one end with the hood.

12. In a suit of the character described, a body having a hood formed with "an opening at the front and with an elastic gore at said opening, and facing strips extending around the hood and movable relatively.

with each other to contract or enlarge the In testimony whereof I have slgned my opening, the said strips each having an name to this specification in the presence of 10 eastic connection slt one end with' the hood. two subscribing Witnesses.

1.3. A garment aving an opening prov 1 5 vided with ceacting fastener members, one JOHN PRES'EON PARK' member having a T-head, and the other Witnesses: having arms adapted to engage transversely IRA No TICE, beneath the said head. J. E. TIGE. 

